Baghdad: The Besieged Press, by Orville Schell, NYRB

[Gabi Hayes]

Great Article on what it's like to be one of those Ingrahamesque, 'lazy, balcony reporters' in Baghdad

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18844

''As the quest for greater private security increases, a new and unexpected kind of public insecurity has grown alongside it. With vehicles rerouted through an ever-diminishing number of open streets, traffic jams have become more frequent, exposing foreigners, rich Baghdadis, and anyone else out of favor with one or another group of insurgents to a greater danger of being kidnapped, shot, or blown up. It is unnerving (to say the least) to be stuck in such traffic, wedged into a welter of dilapidated sedans, vans, and pickup trucks with heavily armed Iraqis staring sullenly through the window of your expensively reinforced car, as security guards sitting next to you cradle their automatic weapons. With no possibility of escape, you can't help wondering when your unlucky moment will come. And when traffic completely stops and frustrated drivers begin to break out of line, gun their vehicles up sidewalks, veer across center dividers, or just charge up the opposite lane against the flow of oncoming traffic, it is difficult to remain calm. The worst offenders are private security guards who are committed to protecting their charges any way they can, and the Iraqi police, who now have brand-new fleets of green and white cruisers with whooping sirens, allowing them to plow their way through traffic-clogged streets as if they were kids on joy rides.

Adding to the overall racket and general sense of anxiety is the fact that it is hard to tell if the incessant sounds of sirens, the periodic bursts of automatic weapons fire, or the occasional explosions that are heard throughout the day mean anything or not. There are police firing ranges within the city, and sometimes a bored guard will just harmlessly fire off a few shots by way of a warning. As Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times explained, "Squeezing off a few rounds of automatic weapons fire here in Baghdad is the equivalent of honking your horn in America." So unless an explosion is quite close, people hardly break step. At most, if there is a particularly loud report, a journalist might go up onto his bureau's rooftop to see where the smoke is coming from.

There is undeniably a Blade Runner– like feel to this city. The violence is so pervasive and unfathomable that you wonder what people think they are dying for. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the everyday violence is horrendous, it does not take too many days before the deadly noises and the devastation everywhere seem to become just part of the ordinary landscape. Soon, quite to your surprise, you find yourself paying hardly more attention to the sounds of gunshots than a New Yorker does to the car alarms that go off every night...until, that is, someone you know, a neighbor, or just someone you have heard about, gets blown up, shot on patrol, or kidnapped by insurgents.''

[Gabi Hayes]

1. friendly natives prepare a welcome for the foreign press contingent

[Rose Siding]

2. K&R Everyone should read this article

I posted a different snip here-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=758628

[Gabi Hayes]

4. ha...that's what I heard him reading on Wisconsin PR this morning.

the highlight of what I heard was his discussion with that overhyped POS Peter Jennings, before the war began

he asked him WHEN the big three were going to start presenting both sides of the controversy over whether we should invade or not

Jennings said something very close to this: "There will be NO discussion of the other side of the invasion question"

when Schell asked him why, he simply repeated himself, with emphasis

he went on to explain that the overweening attitude in the media was, and still is, that the editors/publishers/owners had no interest in hearing the other side, as well as felt the 'pressure' to hype the patriotic, at the expense of truth

he also said that even the reporters who WANTED to tell the truth were not given the opportunity, both through what they were told explicitly to cover/say, and what the final product looked like after it went to the editors/producers

fascinating interview

and thanks for the link, btw

[Ravenseye]

3. Excellent Read

Everyone needs to read this. Recommending.

[Supersedeas]

5. I'll second that and add a recommendation